Laundry washers and dryers are common labor-saving devices in many homes and businesses. However, washing and drying a single load of laundry typically requires two separate processes. First, the laundry is manually placed in a washer, automatically washed, and manually removed from the washer, and then the laundry is manually placed in a dryer and automatically dried. Because this procedure is labor intensive, combined laundry washer and drier systems have been provided to simplify it.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,671,978 to McGowan provides a combined washer and dryer, which automatically moves laundry from the washer to the dryer by means of an automatic load-feeder, so that the user does not have to manually move the wet laundry to the dryer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,306 to Raes provides a combined washing and drying machine “wherein the washing and drying means are mounted within a pivoting subassembly.” After the laundry has been washed vertically in a basket, the pivoting assembly moves to tumble dry the laundry horizontally in the basket.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,445 to Larger provides a combined washing and drying machine with a system of air ducts for drying the laundry.
Although these systems allow the user to employ one machine to wash and dry laundry, they only one load of laundry may be washed during a cycle of washing and drying. Until the laundry has been removed, a second load of laundry cannot be washed. Thus, a user with multiple loads of laundry to be washed and dried has to wait during drying times before washing addition loads.
Therefore, there is a need for a combined washer and drier configured so that the user can wash a first load of laundry, start drying the first load, and wash a second load while the first load is drying.